Voyager Fleet Fuel Card Review

We rate Voyager’s fleet fuel card 4/5 for its wide network coverage, and handy cheap gas station finder.

Owned by CSI (Corporate Spending Innovations) and issued and backed by US Bank, the Voyager Mastercard is one of the best fuel cards for monitoring fuel spend closely. Its biggest drawback, though, is its lack of discounts or rebates.

Formerly known as the Voyager Fleet Card, the Voyager Mastercard offers flexibility and customization on spending. Plus, thanks to the colossal Voyager network, this card can be used at hundreds of thousands of fuel and maintenance stations across all 50 states. Now that’s coverage!

We’ll explore the pros and cons in detail in this review.

Businesses Served by Voyager Mastercard

We can honestly say that the Voyager Mastercard is suitable for fleet operations of all sizes.

Why? Well, first of all, the card can be used at a (frankly incredible) 320,000 locations across all 50 states.

This is great for large businesses – particularly those that operate all over the country – as no matter where your drivers are, it’s likely that they’ll never be too far from a spot to fuel up. It’s thanks to this omnipresence that the card is so popular with commercial fleets, OTR fleets, aviation fleets, and government fleets. It also makes a suitable fuel card for trucking fleets.

Meanwhile, the flexibility offered by this program makes it a good fit for small fleets, too. With highly customizable reporting, purchase controls and payment options, small businesses can really tailor their Voyager Mastercard to their unique needs, in order to get the value they need out of it.

It’s worth noting that this program also supplies fleet cards to tax exempt qualified organizations, including government and nonprofit entities.

Voyager Mastercard Rewards and Incentives

The Voyager card is somewhat unique in combining purchase types: you can pay for gas, repairs, parking, and even toll fees. In our review of ExxonMobil, we noted that it offers both a Mastercard and non-Mastercard, while Voyager’s card combines these two different payment methods in one card.

Here’s what Voyager’s fleet fuel card program can offer you.

Advanced spending controls

This is a fuel card program that gives you plenty of control over how much your fleet can spend, helping you to slash fuel and maintenance costs wherever you can.

Rather than just setting a single blanket spending limit, you can choose separate limits for each individual card, based on the following:

• Whether the card can be used to buy fuel only or both fuel and maintenance services
• How many purchases can be made per day
• How many dollars can be spent on each purchase
• How many dollars can be spent in a day
• How many dollars can be spent in a week
• How many dollars can be spent in a month

You might find this particularly helpful if you have both part-time and full-time drivers, and so would expect your part-time drivers to spend less.

Customizable reporting

Fleet managers who use Voyager’s card program will also gain access to the Voyager Fleet Card online portal. Through the portal, managers can track invoices and previous transaction details, as well as view reports on drivers, vehicles, and how many miles per gallon they are achieving.

Secure purchase authorization

Purchases made with your Voyager Fleet Cards can be as secure as you like, with drivers asked to give ID prompts of your choosing to prove they’re legitimate card holders.

At the point of purchase, you can decide what your drivers are asked to give. Options include:

• Odometer readings
• ID numbers
• Trip numbers
• Vehicle numbers
• Employee numbers
• A combination of these

If you’re feeling lucky, you can even let your drivers make purchases without having to give any ID info – though we’d advise against this.

But does the Voyager Fleet Card program offer fuel cost rebates?

Sadly, no. Though most fleet card programs give you a few cents back for every gallon of fuel you buy, we’re disappointed to say Voyager doesn’t.

Voyager’s appeal hinges on purchase control settings being enough to save on gas costs. We’re not really so sure that’s good enough, given all fuel cards give you more insight into and control over your fuel spending. It’s true that Voyager’s card gives you slightly better control over spending than other brands’ cards.

Finding a Voyager Station

Have we mentioned that over 320,000 stations nationwide (including 60,000 maintenance locations) accept the Voyager Fleet Card? We have? Well, it bears repeating – especially now we’re onto the subject of finding stations.

Put simply, this awesome coverage makes it extremely easy to find a station that’ll accept your Voyager Fleet Cards. Stations are available in every state, and are easy to pin down using US Bank’s online Voyager Merchant Locator. You can also use the free app – Voyager Mobile – which is available for both Apple and Android users.

The Voyager Merchant Locator enables fleet managers and their drivers to filter station searches by fuel type and available amenities. Results are shown on a digital map, and you can even check the current price of your fuel at each location that pops up.

It’s worth being aware, though, that a large proportion of Apple Store customer reviews for the Voyager Mobile app are less than positive – they complain the app is glitchy and sometimes doesn’t work, and overall, it’s been rated a measly 3.3 stars. It’s 3.5 on the Google Play Store.

Voyager’s network of fuel station brands

We can hear you asking: “How is it that so many stations will accept the Voyager Mastercard?” Well, this comes down to the brand’s colossal network of fuel station brands.

Voyager has partnered with a range of both national chains and regional companies, from 7-Eleven, Shell, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil right down to small independent merchants.

Aside from the security of knowing there’ll always be plenty of places to fuel up in your area, this massive variety also gives you the opportunity to choose cheaper fuel station brands over pricier ones, shaving even more pennies off those hefty fuel costs.

The Pros and Cons of a Voyager Mastercard

The pros

✓ Accepted at over 320,000 gas stations across the US.

✓ Voyage Acceptance Locator tool lets you find cheapest fuel in any location.

✓ Highly customizable purchase controls, enabling you to restrict what, when and how much your drivers buy.

✓ This card program keeps things secure by asking drivers to share ID prompts of your choosing at the point of purchase.

✓ View reports on vehicles and drivers plus historical purchase info.

✓ 24/7 US-based customer support.

The cons

✘ Unlike plenty of other fleet card programs, the Voyager Mastercard doesn’t come with rebates (money back) on the fuel that your business buys.

✘ While the card itself comes with no fees, the fact that it’s distributed through Voyager partners means they might charge their own service fees – so keep an eye on that.

✘ App Store customers have given the Voyager Mobile app an average star rating of just 3.3, with technical problems emerging as the key reason for these low ratings.

Our Methodology: How Did We Find the Best Fuel Cards?

Five researchers carried out in-depth research into US fleet cards according to a comparison framework designed by our research team leader. For each card we’ve asked these questions:

• How convenient is it to use?
• How helpful is it for managing fuel expenses?
• What can it do to ensure your company’s funds are secure?
• What extra benefits do you receive from using it?

We’ve also broken down each card by fee structure, fuel type, network coverage and more to offer you the easiest choice.

Expert Verdict

Ultimately, what stands out the most about the Voyager Mastercard is the sheer volume of gas stations that it can be used at, and the extent to which you can customize the program so that it meets your specific fleet and fuel management needs.

While it doesn’t offer rebates on fuel costs – and there’s a risk that your distributor might charge you extra fees – we still believe that this fleet card is really handy for limiting spend and finding cheaper gas stations.

Of course, with so many different fleet card programs out there, you might feel a little confused as to which one is right for you. That’s where we can help. Simply tell us about your business’ fuel needs using our quick form, and you’ll hear back from the fleet fuel card providers that can best meet your needs. It’s free, fast, and easy – why not try it out?